Girlfriend Time: My Cup is Full

One aspect of living well that I’ve always found energizes and fulfills me is time with my girlfriends. Over the years, I’ve heard about women taking off for “girlfriend weekends”, but had never done it myself. The opportunity came up and I jumped on it! Last week I spent four days away at a lake house in Montana. Heaven. 

Five women hopped in the car on Friday morning and we took off. On the way there, we stopped at a store and I picked up the DVD series for Downtown Abbey Season I…in anticipation. The drive to Montana was, of course, beautiful, and so was the lake and house.

 

The weekend was everything I hoped it would be. We laughed, shared and finished conversations. We found out so much we didn’t know about each other. We took turns cooking dinner so no one would have to do it all, and committed to eating together every night (you know how ladies appreciate candles and ambiance, and we made sure we had it!). We cooked recipes that weren’t family-friendly (like an amazing macaroni and cheese that included bleu cheese). We stayed up too late and got up whenever we pleased. We took walks, relaxed in the hammock, paddle boarded, jet skied, or set out on the ATV to explore. We enjoyed nightly hot tub time before dinner. What I wouldn’t have expected was the hours we spent on Pinterest! We enjoyed the time to look at each others interests, likes, recipes and styles. 

What was so beautiful about the weekend was that there were so many activities, and we were free to choose solitude or companionship.

When we planned our adventure, we talked about what we wanted from the trip. We all agreed that everyone should be open to allowing each other to have a good time; to be open to each other’s definition of what a good time was. As a result, everyone was delighted and respectful of what others needed. The ladies were free to do their own thing and be true to their own spirit. We were blessed with girlfriend time, great laughs, fun, alone time, one-on-one time, and many opportunities to enjoy the whole group. So we had the flavor of it all.

Our trip home was also an adventure… accidentally (ahem). I missed a road sign and we ended up on a detour past unexpected beauty and then saw on the side of the road: “Big Horn Sheep”. This was a “huge” gift and blessing for one of our ladies, it was her dream to see a Big Horn Sheep… and we saw five of them! Because of our detour, we were able to stop into a different Fred Meyer to see if they had Season 2 of Downtown Abbey (yes, we had finished Season I!) to watch on the drive home. (Might I add that everyone was great sports about that detour?).  

Between the “extra” miles traveled, the beautiful sightings, and many “ladies room” breaks, we were running very behind. On top of it all, I had previously scheduled a group of ladies to come to my home for a fashion consultation to kick off and introduce my new business for that evening. When I realized that there wasn’t enough time on the clock for the miles needed to get there, I pulled over and let my sister-in-law drive so I could make phone calls and execute a new plan. With the help of my hostess (she agreed to bring the guests a little later), my colleague who dropped off the line of clothing samples to my house, my daughter to put it all up and organize it into collections, and my dear sweet son's cleaning, wiping and vacuuming to get it ready for guests, all collectively got the job done. I am grateful.

Today, I feel like my cup is full. There’s more to me than just my girlfriends, that’s true. But today I am fulfilled. Having that time for friendship fully energized me and today I cherish my daily duties more because I had my girlfriend time; and that nourishes my soul. It was also time away from business, tasks and my family to think, pause and reflect on the day-to-day and cherished moments of life. You don’t always have that opportunity when you’re in the midst of it all.

Thank you ladies, for the gift of a weekend. Thank you reader, for reading to the end of my story. The point of it all is to inspire you to take the same kind of time for yourself. I hope you do.

-Keri